Nicola Sturgeon to open German 'embassy' because she does not trust Boris Johnson and Liam Fox

Nicola Sturgeon is to announce she will dispatch trade envoys across Europe and open an ‘embassy’ in Berlin because she does not trust Boris Johnson and Liam Fox to represent Scotland abroad.

The First Minister will use her keynote speech at the SNP conference in Glasgow this afternoon to say she will try and shield Scotland from the impact of Brexit by doubling the number of trade and investment staff in the Continent and hire new envoys.

In a speech that will argue Scots now have a choice between the SNP and “hard-Right Tories”, she will announce a new “Scottish Innovation and Investment Hub” in the German capital.

She will contrast this with Mr Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, and Mr Fox, the International Trade Secretary, “retreating to the fringes of Europe” following June’s Brexit vote.

Her attempts to carve out her own foreign policy came following the embarrassing disclosure earlier this month that she was forced to meet a junior German minister in a Berlin restaurant because he refused to hold the talks in his country’s foreign office.

The First Minister lauded her talks with Michael Roth on August 9 as evidence of “the solidarity shown toward Scotland as an enthusiastic part of the EU.” However, the Scottish Government refused to disclose the location of the meeting until a Freedom of Information request was submitted.

Ms Sturgeon is expected to use her speech to argue that her government must “redouble our efforts” to make the Scottish economy internationally competitive following Brexit.

Nicola Sturgeon will say she does not trust Boris Johnson and Liam FoxCredit:
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Unveiling a four-point plan to send a message that Scotland is open for business, she will announce a new board of trade to get business expertise and a trade envoy scheme asking successful Scots to help boost the country’s exports.

Ms Sturgeon will also pledge to “create permanent trade representation for Scotland with a Scottish Innovation and Investment Hub in Berlin” and double the number of staff working for economic quango Scottish Development International in Europe.

“And let me be crystal clear about this – Scotland cannot trust the likes of Boris Johnson and Liam Fox to represent us. They are retreating to the fringes of Europe, we intend to stay at its very heart where Scotland belongs,” she will say.

The First Minister will argue that Scotland is engaged in a “new battle of ideas”, with the Tory conference in Birmingham demonstrating that “the choice we face has never been so stark”.

“Now it wants to rip us out of a union which is four times more valuable than the EU’s. Of course Scottish businesses should continue to look to Europe for trade. But for Nicola Sturgeon to suggest this will be some kind of remedy for putting the barriers up with the rest of the UK is irresponsible.”